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E-commerce spending off to good start; Will it last?

Online holiday spending got off to a good start with Black Friday sales up 11 percent from a year ago, according to comScore. The big question: Will these gains stick?
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

Online holiday spending got off to a good start with Black Friday sales up 11 percent from a year ago, according to comScore. The big question: Will these gains stick?

The question looms large on Cyber Monday, the day the U.S. comes back from a long Thanksgiving weekend and goes shopping online on corporate networks everywhere.

Last year, sales across retail got off to a decent start, but consumers were tapped out shortly after Black Friday. Will this year be different?

ComScore figures that the holiday season thus far has generated $10.57 billion in revenue, up 3 percent from a year ago (statement). Black Friday delivered $595 million in online sales, up 11 percent from a year ago. Black Friday was the second heaviest online spending day in 2009.

Here's the recap:

Indeed, that tally is a "very encouraging start," says comScore, but the real tell will come in the weeks ahead. Discounts and promotions appear to have led to the early pop. It remains to be seen how long those techniques will keep consumers buying.

As for the biggest retailing gainers, there weren't a lot of surprises. Amazon was a leader along with Walmart. Those two are continuously duking it out. In fact, Amazon and Walmart's price war will have a lot of collateral damage. Apple also had a strong showing along with Best Buy.

In addition, Hitwise sent me a handy spreadsheet with its rankings of the leading online retail destinations. Here's a look at the Hitwise standings:

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